Sexual Assault Information

Please also see our video "Silent Storm" addressing intimate partner violence. (You will need to be at a computer connected to the campus network to access.)

As defined by the Texas Penal Code, a stranger or acquaintance commits sexual assault through forcible sodomy, forcible sexual penetration, however slight, of another person's mouth, anal or genital opening with any object. These acts must be committed without the victim's consent either by force, threat of force or violence, intimidation or through the use of the victim's mental or physical helplessness of which the accused was aware or should have been aware.

Sexual assault is non-consensual acts involving psychological manipulation, physical force, or coercion. It is an act of aggression and violence, and a crime punishable under the laws of the State of Texas by fines and incarceration ranging from two years to life imprisonment.

The University of Houston's definition of sexual assault also includes any touching of an unwilling person's intimate parts (defined as genitalia, groin, breast or breasts, or buttocks or clothing covering them) or forcing an unwilling person to touch another's intimate parts. These acts must be committed either by force, threat, intimidation, or through the use of the victim's mental or physical helplessness of which the accused was aware or should have been aware.